Google’s Bard Paused in the EU. What’s Behind the Delay?

Google’s plan to launch its synthetic intelligence chatbot, Bard, in Europe has hit a regulatory roadblock.

In response to the Irish Information Safety Fee, Google hasn’t supplied enough particulars about Bard’s information privateness insurance policies, prompting a postponement of its EU debut.

Bard’s Launch Halted By Information Privateness Queries

The Fee said that the knowledge offered by Google about its new generative AI instrument’s safety of EU residents’ privateness was insufficient.

This shortfall has delayed Bard’s EU launch, which was scheduled for this week.

The Irish regulator requests an in-depth evaluation of Bard’s compliance with EU information safety guidelines.

Google might be topic to ongoing critiques of privateness practices, which might be shared with different European information safety businesses.

The EU’s Regulatory Framework For AI Programs

The EU proactively regulates AI techniques, prioritizing security, transparency, and non-discrimination.

The primary regulatory framework for AI proposed by the EU, referred to as the AI Act, is on observe to change into the world’s premier complete legislation on AI.

This proposed laws categorizes AI techniques primarily based on their threat to customers and assigns regulation ranges accordingly.

The AI Act requires AI techniques like Google’s Bard and different generative AI fashions to fulfill transparency necessities.

These embody disclosing AI-generated content material, making certain the mannequin doesn’t generate unlawful content material, and publishing summaries of copyrighted information for coaching.

The AI Act’s Influence On AI Deployments

The AI Act, adopted by the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on June 14, is predicted to affect the deployment of AI techniques within the EU.

Negotiations on the legislation’s ultimate type will now start with EU international locations within the Council, intending to succeed in an settlement by the top of the yr.

The Act’s stringent necessities are set to form the way forward for AI know-how within the EU.

As demonstrated by Google’s Bard, tech firms seeking to roll out AI instruments worldwide should pay shut consideration to those evolving rules.

Google’s Dedication to Accountable AI Deployment

Regardless of the setback, Google stays dedicated to increasing Bard’s availability.

A Google spokesperson said:

“We mentioned in Might that we needed to make Bard extra extensively obtainable, together with within the European Union, and that we might achieve this responsibly, after engagement with specialists, regulators and policymakers.”

Google’s Bard, a competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Bing Chat, has been rolled out in 180 international locations since March, together with the U.S. and the U.Ok.

Nonetheless, Google has but to launch in EU international locations, the place rigorous privateness rules have already scrutinized generative AI instruments like ChatGPT for alleged information mishandling and lack of a legally compliant algorithm.

In Abstract

Suspending the launch of Google’s Bard within the EU isn’t only a setback for Google. It’s a message to all tech firms to take information privateness critically.

The introduction of the AI Act is poised to tighten rules on AI techniques additional, requiring firms to display their dedication to transparency and privateness.

Sources: Politico, European Parliament

Featured picture: Iljanaresvara Studio/Shutterstock